She finished her high-school coursework online, and almost never saw her friends or family. Im going to do it my way., Jessicas shooting was the subject of hushed conversations among Wendell Beams staff at the Spalding County sheriffs office. However, with the later discovery of previously-unknown evidence, it evolved into an . A fence separates their house from an open field, where nine cows and two donkeys graze. A few months after the wedding, Denise and Amy went out for lunch. The fact that they dont believe that she did this to herselfI think theyre not taking it seriously, Owen said. Matthews case was presented to a grand jury in July, 2018. After Jessica had been in the hospital for a month, her doctors tried to transfer her to a rehabilitation program, but she didnt have insurance, so she was discharged to the care of her grandparents. Philip Stinson, a professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University and one of the few scholars who has studied the issue, reached a similar finding: one in five officers arrested for domestic violence nationwide had also been the subject of a federal lawsuit for violating peoples civil rights. Her aunt Denise, a public-school teacher, said that, at the wedding, there was just this sadness in her eyes, like, Im done. She had the demeanor of a child who had promised herself not to cause trouble or draw attention to her own feelings. Now itsa twenty-two-billion-dollar industry plagued by exploitation. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. I think the city thought this would be business as usual, until a local reporter and a loser truck driver got involved, Will Sanders said. The neighbor saw Matthew leaving the apartment for dinner with a coworker. After she came out of her coma, Denise had had to buy her new clothes. Matthew and the boys temporarily moved in with Courtney Callaway, the dispatcher he was dating. He didnt find any, and dismissed the protective order. Dr. Vernon Henderson, chief of Trauma and Critical Care at Atlanta Medical Center was on-call the morning Jessica came in and treated her for the next month while she was in the hospital. One witnessJessicas neighbor Megan Browningwould like to speak to you anonymously in chambers, because she is afraid., Judge Hankinson seemed to find the idea so novel as to be humorous. "You know, you're trying to match up times of where he is getting these text messages or how he's responding to them, that he has to be in the kitchen. He had a reputation for being kind and personable but also passive, indecisive, and resistant to change. (The purposes of such a sweeping request were never clear. Uh, just my service weapon, he responds. She speaks lovingly of her children and the need to and desire to see them.. They have won. The nurse didnt answer. But she felt isolated. He's asked me to go get it out before. 8,897 people like this. Boynton, who was . It began as a visionary notionthat patients could die with dignity at home. The glowing yellow and black, blocked-letter Waffle House sign illuminates his truck as he drives by, turning around to head back home. A half hour or so later, Browning was lying in bed when she heard a gunshot. On a hospital-admission form, Jessica was described as a 19 year old reported to have shot herself in the right skull. But Vernon Henderson, a trauma surgeon for more than two decades, who treated Jessica, wrote that her injury did not fit with that description; neither of her hands had any evidence of any gunpowder stippling. And her wound was on the top of her skull, which suggested that she would have had to hold the gun above her head, pointing downwarda very unusual direction in which to point the gun at ones self with the intention of committing suicide, Henderson wrote. 2023 Cond Nast. Did he cause his estranged spouses injury? I made sure that I had another party with me, to insure the accusations wouldnt be made, Matthew said later. Im not well connected with anyone. She decided to resign instead. One of the neighbors said that, not long before he heard the gunshots, he also heard some banging, like she was banging on the door or something.. Although its possible that Jessicas head hit the wall after she shot herself, there was no blood on the wall or on the clothes in the closet. ), In a private Facebook message, Willey complained to a friend that Matthews demeanor was emotionless but very authoritative. She had learned about Jessicas shooting after probing stories were published by Sheila Mathews in The Grip, a free newspaper in Spalding County, and aired on the Atlanta television station 11Alive, reported by Brendan Keefe. In response to 11Alives questions about the case, the GBI said, We are confident in the investigation that was conducted., RELATED: Jessica Boynton says she's free as a bird', MORE | Watch the Facebook Live with Brendan Keefe. Her head shaved. Can you please dispatch a unit out to my location? he said calmly. Amy fell to pieces, Denise said. It was actually from him. The July 29 arrest of former Griffin Police Department Officer Matthew Boynton stemmed from a theft report filed Dec. 19, 2016, by his former wife, Jessica Lester. In an analysis of more than two thousand family-court opinions from the past decade, Joan S.Meier, a professor at George Washington University Law School, found that, in sixty-four per cent of cases, courts did not accept the story of a mother who said she or her children had been abused by her husband, even when evidence corroborated the claim. The agents who wrote the report seemed indifferent to the dynamics of Jessica and Matthews marriage, as if the subject were a private matter that didnt merit discussion in an official investigation. They were becoming estranged, and when something h. But the factors that lead to abuse at homecoercion, authoritarianism, a sense of entitlement to violenceare also present in the work that police officers do on the streets. Sheila Mathews publishes The Grip, an independent . After the visit, Matthew, who had been placed on administrative leave, was interviewed again by DeMarco. His flashlights beam reveals a smiling family of four. I already know it wont.. She notified a local truck driver named Will Sanders, who had a reputation as a freelance investigator. Willey had seen a copy of Matthews sworn statement in his car, and she was disturbed that he was lying straight to everybodys face, she later told the police. In July, he was charged with two felonies: making false statements and violating his oath of office. I mean you can't prove that," DeMarco. But it was used after Matthew had said he left the apartment in fear of his life, and did not return. Jessica Lester started dating Matthew Boynton when she was fifteen. She said that Matthew told her she wasnt related to them by blood. Its a question 11Alive investigators asked a few months ago, when Griffin Police Officer Matthew Boyntons wife, Jessica, allegedly shot herself in the head with his service weapon, inside the master bedroom closetlocked from the inside. If he has to drive to downtown Griffin, he cleans and vacuums his car, so he can easily see if someone plants drugs or contraband. The babys muffled cry echoes, getting louder as the officers sweep their guns back and forth, searching for the shooter. Which is very off that this happened, because I never, ever had any thoughts like this before. They wanted me to come back Friday for orientation for the job, she said. Im, like, You dont have to ask me, he said. There is another problem now. Her parents had abandoned her when she was three, along with her sister and brother, and she grew up on a farm with her mothers adoptive parents. On April 15, 2016, in the town of Griffin, Georgia. Like, he talks about her as if shes nothing., As Willey was moving out of Matthews house, she again came across the gym bag of Jessicas clothes. Matthew claims he received a text from Jessica stating she was going to commit suicide. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. His phone was given to someone else at Griffin PD, they put the phone in the thing because they knew GBI wanted it, and that's where we're gonna be while he was taken to the police department. She suspected that there had been a physical altercation leading up to the gunshots. But Griffin Police Chief Michael Yates said, Officer Boynton was not the shooter and trusts the investigations outcome. GBI/Griffin Police Dept. Most important to me. Three days after she left the hospital, a deputy from the Pike County sheriffs office delivered a Family Violence Protective Order. In the police body-cam videos, the dog is still wearing his leash. Petition Justice For Jessica Boynton Change.org Griffin Police officer Matthew Boynton was cleared in his wife's shooting, but his interrogation still cost him his job. "That's the way we're gonna play this game, Sheila. She was wearing fluffy slippers. Now for a pleasant, modest entry into retirement in Toronto.". Any weapons inside the house? the dispatcher inquires. The psychologist wrote, of the older son, I asked him if he has been happy or sad. So Im trying to hurry up and get back home, just to make sure that nothing is going to happen to them., Six minutes later, Matthew reported on his police radio that he had heard two gunshots as he was walking up the stairs to his apartment. In 2012, Piper complained to Beam, and he said hed look into the accusations, if she put them in writing. Just one minute later, Matthewcalls 911, reaching Spalding County dispatch. Thats something that yall would have to figure out., The G.B.I.s theory of Jessicas shooting depended on her being suicidal, but she gave no indication of being depressed. That question lingers--but not for Georgia Bureau of Investigations, who said the case is closed--repeatedly stating that they are satisfied with their findings. He had control of Spalding County, she said, referring to Gibson. Jessica Boynton, 19, was a stay-at-home mom to 8-month-old Tyler and 2-year-year old Tollin. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. Before being elected sheriff, in 2011, Beam had worked in the sheriffs office for thirty-seven years. Law enforcement was in his genes. Can a new approach curb domestic homicide? My kids are at home with her, so I'm trying to hurry up and get back there., I'm driving. Jessica Boynton was married to Matthew Boynton, a local police officer and grandson of the county sheriff. Right, she said, nearly whispering. GRAPHIC WARNING: Jessica Boynton, 19, was found lying in a pool of blood in a locked wardrobe in the home she shared with her husband Matthew Boynton in Griffin, Georgia back in April. I dont know what she is capable of, Judge., Jessicas family agreed to pay a hundred dollars every Sunday so that her visits could be observed by another armed law-enforcement agent. Philip Stinson, the professor at Bowling Green, maintains a database of officers who have been arrested around the country, and he said that, in response to the Lautenberg Amendment, a federal provision that was passed in 1996 and prohibits people convicted of domestic violence from owning firearms, cops accused of domestic violence are often charged with lesser offenses, as a kind of professional courtesy, so they can continue working. Hardheaded. According to the order, which Matthew had petitioned the court to issue, probable cause exists that Family Violence has occurred in the past and may occur in the future. Jessica was ordered to have a psychological evaluation. 'Trigger' Griffin Police officer arrested | 11alive.com They had even taken notebooks off shelves and shredded the documents., Dix was one of the Griffin police officers present the night that Jessica was shot. John Padget, MS '59, writes from Key West, FL, reporting, "My Cornell roommate, Bruce Whilton, of Gloucester, MA, and Punta Gorda, FL, passed away peacefully in June 2022 in Punta Gorda after a long and well-lived life. At first he lied, but within fifteen minutes he acknowledged that hed known about Jessicas bag all along. A male sergeant saw the exchange and told Beam, who provided Gibson with what he called undocumented counselling. Two years later, Gibson slapped a secretary on the back of the head, telling a male officer, Im gonna show you how we take care of these secretaries. Although the secretary complained to Beam about Gibsons behavior, Gibson was never disciplined. Jessica Lester's friends persuaded her to date Matthew Boynton, a boy in the eleventh grade, by saying, "If you don't like him, you can always break up . The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. Jessica Boynton was found shot in th. agent who lived near Spalding County and had worked with Beam on several cases over the years. Shortly after Jessica was hospitalized, her aunt Kathy took a photograph of a C-shaped bruise on the back of Jessicas head, and she shared it with the G.B.I. Matthew, who had been restored to patrol duty, carried a new service gun and wore his uniform, and was accompanied by Beam. Furthermore, she said, there were too many errors and discrepancies for her to have sent a text like that. Underneath her . "That was when approximately 24 minutes into the conversation, his demeanor changed and everything flipped," she recalled. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | king5.com Her voice was hoarse from the breathing tubes, and she seemed childlike and dazed, as if her only goal was to accommodate the agents as quickly as she could. No. She loved those kids more than anything, and she knows how it feels to grow up without a mom, she said. Neither Matthew nor Jessica had been given a gunpowder-residue test. I hold up the white flag., Jessicas older son often cried and clung to her when Matthew picked him up on Fridays, and in the summer of 2018 he complained that his father had hurt him. Sanders was forty-three years old and the son of a former Republican state representative; he considered himself a happy beneficiary of the good-old-boys system, he told me, and did not do his work in pursuit of political reform. The older boy was asleep in his bedroom, and the baby was in his own room, crying in his crib. Henderson, the surgeon, had written Lowry a letter stating that whatever investigation there was done into this event in no way reflected our observations in the emergency room.. Body cam shows moment Georgia cop's wife was found dead In many other cities, domestic violence seems to be treated as similarly insignificant. She told the agent, they were at home when they argued about his girlfriend and the photo that Jessica found on his phone that night. Ive never, ever wanted to hurt myself before., Do you think Matthew was incapable of doing this?, Honestly, I dont know, she said. Jessica Boynton says she's free as a bird'. Willey contacted Jessica on Facebook and warned her that Matthew was not taking good care of the children; they were subsisting, she said, on cheese puffs, Fudge Rounds, corn dogs, and Mountain Dew, and sleeping at odd hours. In nearly a third of cases, the officers already had a domestic-violence incidentand, in one case, eightin their records. Dusty and her husband drove to Jessicas apartment. Her limp body is on the floor, just behind the door. This blows my mind.. Although the hospital had placed her under constant observation after she was admitted, the precautions were removed after she regained consciousness. A G.B.I. It was like she needed permission for everything, she said. He was charged with theft a year later but was released on bail and has never been in jail. Check out the page. He later tells investigators that he heard Tyler crying, and then, POP-POP!. To text back long story I'll tell you later.. Her mouth covered with a breathing apparatus and several machines attached to her, in an effort to monitor her condition. Both couples said that the shots occurred around 11 p.m.not at 1 a.m., when Matthew had reported them. Four of her grandchildren had taken target-shooting classes together, but Jessica had refused to participate. Missing evidence jeopardized felony case against Matthew Boynton Police and Officer Boynton claimed that Jessica tried to kill herself but after Jessica awoke . But the sheriff still loomed large in their relationship. We believe he is a danger to her, she told the judge, Tommy Hankinson. Family grieves death of their 22-year-old son after Gwinnett County double shooting, Online petition to deannex the City of South Fulton has hundreds of signatures, Veterinarian shares summertime safety tips for pets, Who shot the officer's wife? She spoke to the GBI, from her hospital bed. Of course, it was through my efforts that we landed that account, but did I get any credit? The rest of us enjoyed her graduation party, Martha, her grandmother, said. Her neurosurgeon, Paul King, told me, It seemed most likely that someone else shot her., Jessica had an intracranial-pressure monitor inserted into her brain, to measure swelling, and she was put in a medically induced coma. According to Jessica Lester, Boynton's ex-wife who filed a . Unnerved, she went out to the porch, where she heard another. With his gun raised and arms poised, he holds his weapon out in front of him with both hands. You find plenty of reasons to leave nowI know that, Jacob teased her. Updated: 11:14 PM EDT July 28, 2017. Even Gibsons lawyer, Phil Friduss, seemed at a loss to explain whether Gibson had controlled the county, as so many people believed. And, the first officer on scene, as recorded by body cam footage, was not interviewed by the GBI for months after the incident. Gibson routinely said to female colleagues, Shut your cock garage. He told a secretary that she should wear a cowbell around her neck, so hed always know where she was. Indentations in the walls of Jessicas closet suggested that one bullet had been shot at an upward angleit entered the wall near the top of the closetand another bullet hit the wall near the floor. They were hurt.. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | abc10.com - KXTV Jones eyes a small child sleeping on a bottom bunk bed in the back bedroom. I never wanted to hurt myself before, she said, going on to say that shes never handled a gun, nor shot one. My dream is that, one day, the Feds show up and say, We want the notebook, he said. And I could have been the next target.. The new sheriff, Darrell Dix, the former lieutenant in the Griffin Police Department, told me that when he unlocked the doors to the sheriffs office on his first day on the job, January 1, 2017, he found nine industrial-sized trash bags full of shredded papers. Jessica had to wean her baby before starting the job, so on Thursday night she and Matthew drove to Walmart, to buy formula. When I asked Jessica why she never left the house when she lived with Matthew, she explained, We lived in an apartment complex with a playground. In a composition notebook, Jessica documented the times she assumed Matthew had been with his girlfriend, and she jotted down notes for the lawyer. Earlier that night Jessica's husband Matthew headed to Waffle House for a late-night bite with a fellow officer, leaving his service weapon . September 30, 2019. Good for you, Mr. Owen, Hankinson replied. Justice for Jessica - Facebook No. Haha I'm sorry I didn't think about that lol he sends to her after receiving a text from her--moments following his text from his wife. My understanding of the laws of physics is that one person cannot be in two places at the same time," Mathews said in an interview with 11Alive. They had wiped stuff off the computers, Dix said. In the spring of 2013, when she was sixteen and had dated Matthew for a year, she took her grandparents into the kitchen, closed the door, and told them, apologizing, that she was pregnant. But asking those questions resulted in a threat. Hewrote a letter to Jessicas attorneyon June 10, in which he questioned the finding that Jessicas head injury was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, indicating that there was no investigation conducted by authorities at the hospital. On his way, at 12:54 a.m., he said, he received a text from Jessica: I cant do this anymore. For the next three and a half weeks, Jessica remains in a coma with a traumatic brain injurytubes protruding from her brain to alleviate pressure and fluid. If you dont want to be with me anymore, Jessica texted him, Im not going to stay here and play house. Matthew, who had begun spending his free days with Callaway, told her, Its not gonna work for us. Matthew, grandson of then-sheriff of Spalding County, texts a fellow Griffin Police officer. Eleanor Attwood, a lawyer representing six women who filed civil suits against Gibson, warned me to do all my reporting when the sun was out.
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